WARNING! This article contains spoilers for Creed 3.Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) and Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors) might have had an incredible match in Creed III, but Dame sets up Creed IV’s best fight yet. After he finishes an eighteen-year prison sentence for protecting Donnie in their youth, Dame sets his sights on returning to the ring with an eye on the World Heavyweight Championship. To do this, he has to take out the competition, so he stages an attack on Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), son of The Siberian Express, in order to get a fight with the champ at Donnie’s gym, Felix Chavez.
After handily besting Felix in a fight, Donnie realizes that any help he’s given Dame to get back on his feet has been to absolve himself from guilt rather than do right by his boxers. Creed III tells the villain story Rocky V failed at when Donnie realizes that even though he cares about him, he has to stop Dame’s onslaught of violence at all costs, coming out of retirement to face his old childhood friend in the ring. While the match is certainly an explosive one, Dame’s storyline in Creed III has the chance to carry over into a sequel, where the best showdown is yet to come.
Dame Should Have Fought Viktor Drago To Become The Champ In Creed 3
Dame does Viktor dirty by taking him out of the match against Felix, but the attack should have been reserved for Felix. Given the time jump between Creed II and Creed III, it would have been believable that somewhere along the way, Viktor had won a title belt, not Felix. Unfortunately, Felix, a character that the audience doesn’t care about, has the belt, and Viktor’s absence as a challenger gives Dame the perfect opportunity to take his place.
Many fans were anticipating the return of Viktor Drago in Creed III, who would have been more than up to the task of fighting Dame. For one thing, Viktor and Dame are of a similar weight class, and since the Creed franchise strives for authenticity, it would have made more sense for the two of them to exchange blows rather than the comparatively lightweight-looking Felix. Beyond being comparable in weight and size, the fight would have been more believable because the audience would have a connection to at least one of the fighters. Pound for pound, a fight between two tanks like Dame and Drago would have been more intense.
Creed 4 Can Still Focus On Dame Vs. Viktor Drago
Given that Dame orchestrated the attack on Viktor to keep the enormous Russian out of the championship, there’s the distinct possibility that Viktor will want revenge against him at a later date. While there weren’t many interactions between the two men, Creed III might have deleted scenes that set up some dramatic animosity leading into a bigger conflict in Creed IV. Viktor never confronts Dame about the attack, and their storyline sort of disappears by the end of the film when the focus is on Dame and Donnie’s final confrontation.
The attack also happens quickly and partially offscreen, so there’s no chance to see Viktor’s reaction, and when he returns to train Donnie later on, they surprisingly don’t discuss what happened. If Dme and Viktor had fought in the ring and Viktor had lost, it would have made a stronger case for Viktor to want to train hard and set up a rematch. Even though Dame loses to Donnie at the end of Creed III, he still has a future in boxing, so it’s entirely possible that he’ll face Viktor in the next iteration of the Creed franchise.
Dame Vs. Drago Would Have Had Higher Stakes
Creed III breaks Rocky villain mistakes with Dame by making him a sympathetic adversary. Given his history with Donnie and the opportunities he lost because of the altercation in their youth, he’s an underdog just like Donnie but with a more profound chip on his shoulder. Violent, unpredictable, and fueled by resentment, he’s complicated and less one-dimensional than Rocky villains from the past. Viewers are hard-pressed to not root for him even as he does increasingly desperate things to secure a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship.
After his epic fight with Donnie in Creed II, Viktor became a more fully realized character as well rather than a cipher for his father’s ambitions. When Ivan Drago decided to save his son’s life by calling the match rather than let Donnie pummel him to fatality, the touching bond between father and son seemed to turn Viktor into someone capable of compassion. The final fight in Creed III is impressive, but in the seven years since his title match against Donnie, Viktor’s become not just a stronger boxer, mentor, and friend who fans would have cheered where once they booed.
Why Drago Should Get More Screentime In Creed 4
Drago essentially has a small cameo in Creed III, and fans who were anticipating his return wanted to see the son of Death from Above in more than just a training montage. His only appearance after getting attacked happens towards the end of the film when he’s getting Donnie ready to fight Dame, and it feels completely disconnected from the rest of the storyline. Pitting Viktor and Dame against one another in a future fight would more than make up for the egregious waste of Viktor’s character, and could lead to a spinoff for either one or both of the fighters.
Given that Creed 4 has been confirmed, there’s every reason to believe that the franchise hasn’t seen the last of Dame or Viktor. With their complex and interesting backstories and connection to both Donnie and Rocky, as well as the fact that they’ve both transformed from villains into victims of circumstance, a face-off between the two would be every bit as exciting as the one between Donnie and Dame. Considering they’ve become fan favorites, more screen time for either of them would only strengthen both of the franchises.
Creed III clearly hasn’t used either Dame or Viktor to their full potential, and if the plot wasn’t able to accommodate a conflict between them with a few extra scenes, then it can be explored in future installments. Each of the men has brutal a background constructed of militant discipline, Dame in prison, Viktor in the USSR, with colossal expectations of themselves. That, combined with their mental drive, physicality, and the fact that the franchise has yet to place two villains against one another would make for one of the best showdowns to date.
